Forest Therapy Guide Training
Unfurling Ferns
- Cohort 194
- September 15, 2027
- to
- March 22, 2028
A remarkable journey into the heart of the forest; an encounter with the heart of humanity
This course is for anyone who wants to become a Certified Forest Therapy Guide. No prior knowledge or training required.
In this training, you will learn:
- Learn how to guide ANFT’s Standard Sequence – A Powerful approach to nature connection
- Sequencing forest therapy invitations for maximum impact and benefit
- The heart-centered Way of the Guide approach
- The Language of Invitation to help create powerful connections with self and nature
- Somatic techniques for embodied awareness
- The pedagogy and fundamentals of nature connection
- Nature and forest therapy research and knowledge
- Trail awareness and safety -how to choose a forest therapy trail
- Getting to know your bioregion, its history, watershed, awarenesses and more
- Facilitation skills that promote an open environment for group sharing
- Expressive arts activities for forest therapy
- Competency standards: what a Forest Therapy Guide should know and be able to do
- Tips for successfully promoting your forest therapy offerings
Schedule for Live Events
- Enrollment Deadline:
- September 15, 2027
- 5:00 am
- (PST)
- First Call Date & Language:
- September 15, 2027
- English
- To access the detailed schedule please click
- HERE
For your local time check HERE
What is Included in the Training?
14 modules, over 120 lessons
Over 14 live calls with your trainers and cohort
Small group discussion calls with trainers
Downloadable manual
30+ short videos, recorded by different trainers
40+ assignments / self exploration activities
20+ nature connection activities
Access to research papers and studies
Fun Facts and Reflections
Remote Forest Therapy walks guided by trainers
Guide your own walks and debrief them
Access to the largest forest therapy guide's community
Tuition
The tuition for the six month core guide training program is $3350 (USD).
The tuition for the four-day immersion is $495 (USD). Wait to pay until you are ready to register for a specific immersion. You will have two years from the completion of your core guide training to do the immersion. This price does not include lodging, meals nor transportation.
Other costs include payment for Wilderness First Aid training, which is required for Certification, and is provided by third parties. Prices range from $100 to $300.
Tuition figures are subject to change.
Training Team
- Nadine Mazzola
- "Nadine Mazzola (she/her) is a senior ANFT trainer, certified forest therapy guide, and founder of New England Nature and Forest Therapy Consulting based in the Metro-West and Greater Boston area. Nadine trained with ANFT in 2015 as part of cohort 4 and she has been training and mentoring new guides, as well as running her own guiding practice for 10 years. Her work integrates forest therapy, expressive arts, somatics, and embodied leadership. She became a forest therapy guide following her own breast cancer diagnosis in 2013, a turning point that changed her career path and continues to inform her teaching, mentoring, and guiding practice. Nadine wrote, designed and self-published her award-winning book “Forest Bathing with Your Dog which thoughtfully weaves forest therapy with human–animal connection. As a breast cancer survivor, she brings lived experience and sensitivity to her work with people affected by cancer, as well as with a wide range of populations across wellness, education, healthcare, and organizational settings. An accredited Mindful Art Teacher with training in Expressive Arts, somatics, and embodied leadership, Nadine is known for her warm, invitational teaching style and her ability to create learning environments that are both grounded and creatively expansive. She prioritizes supporting guides in developing confidence in their own way of guiding, feeling grounded in the ANFT Relational Forest Therapy approach, and sharing her deep experience with the practice of forest therapy and running her own guiding business. Nadine maintains a strong interest in the evolving research base supporting nature and forest therapy and regularly integrates current science into her teaching. She offers a collection of continuing education classes that bridge experiential practice with evidence-informed frameworks. Nadine has been featured on PBS Windows to the Wild, ABC’s Chronicle, and in the Boston Globe, Boston Magazine among others. With a background in business and marketing—and a former career as a professional billiards player competing on the WBBA tour—Nadine brings a unique blend of discipline, strategy, creativity, and heart to her role as an ANFT trainer. She is committed to supporting the growth of the forest therapy field through thoughtful education, mentorship, and embodied practice."
- Youmin Yap
- Youmin is one of Southeast Asia's pioneer ANFT certified forest therapy guides. She trained with Cohort 18 in 2017 and has since been offering the practice full-time. Together with her professional and academic backgrounds grounded in science and research, she excels in navigating the worlds of logic and quantification, as well as that of the subtler art of wellbeing. Having guided thousands of participants, Youmin has worked on various projects including designing bespoke journeys for global brands, wellness workshops for hotels and spas and MNCs, support programs for community groups etc. Her work has also been shared at various local and international conferences. Youmin founded Forest with You (formerly known as Xiu Nature Connections), an award-winning wellbeing entity based in Singapore. For the innovative and collaborative ways of bringing forest therapy into the urban landscape, the company was conferred the prestigious Singapore Tourism Board Awards: Outstanding Wellness Experience award for 2023 and 2024. As a trainer, Youmin has trained and mentored 16 cohorts of guides from all around the world. One of her greatest joys is supporting and witnessing each individual’s discovery of their unique stories and offering their gifts to the world as they embark on the journey. She is also a qualified educator, a Certified Shinrin-Yoku International Instructor, and is trained in Yoga Nidra, Yoga (200 YTT), Forest Therapy Trail Consultancy and Mindfulness. She holds a Master’s in Science (Life Sciences) and is fluent in English and Mandarin/Chinese. Youmin currently spends time in Singapore and Thailand.
Certification Pathway
STEP 1
6-Month Remote Training
You will start with a 6-month remote training, covering the content on live calls with the support of your trainers, fellow students, a very user friendly learning platform, many self exploration and nature connection activities that are done outside. After completing this training you get a provisional certification as a Certified Forest Therapy Guide. To view the available trainings scroll down
STEP 2
4-Day In-Person Immersion
After completing module 4 you can apply to attend a 4-day in-person immersion, for hands on forest therapy guiding experience with trainers and fellow students. You have two years time to complete this step.
STEP 3
Get Your Certification
After completing the 6-month remote training and the 4-day in- person immersion, you will receive your permanent certification as an ANFT Certified Forest Therapy Guide and be part of the largest Forest Therapy Guide Community Worldwide.